Ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture consists of manufactured furniture members that are sold to consumers in an unassembled condition. The consumer assembles the members to construct furniture items such as bookcases, storage cubes, desks, tables and stands.
RTA furniture has been assembled using common fasteners such as screws, bolts, dowel pins and cam and dowel assemblies. The assembly of the furniture members is often complicated and requires the use of tools. The invention provides a coupling that can quickly and easily join together furniture members without the use of tools.
The shapes of RTA furniture components, such as table legs, have been limited due to manufacturing processes. For example, square components are difficult to manufacture because of the limits in wrapping laminate on all four sides of the component. Further, it is difficult to manufacture components that are round because there is no flat surface to reference for lamination. By producing two members wrapped on only three sides with a slight return wrap, the two members can be brought together to form square or round components. The invention provides a coupling that can quickly and easily join together furniture members to form square and round furniture components.